Consumers 'turned to debit cards first in 2007'

Debit cards are still the number one choice for making payments, according to a new report.

The Way We Pay 2008 report from UK payments association Apacs found that the method came out on top among the British public for the seventh year running.

It added that 62 per cent of plastic card spending over the course of the year involved a debit card, with £221 billion the total amount splashed out.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications at Apacs, remarked that "there has been no sudden spike in credit card spending" in the wake of the credit crunch.

"In fact, credit card spending up until the end of May increased by only 1.2 per cent - below the rate of inflation," she said.

This comes as the Scotsman has reported that a crackdown against fraud abroad could result in hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers having their cards rejected over the summer.

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